Billy Macklowe eyes possible Manhattan acquisitions with new investment fund

New York City real estate developer William Macklowe appeared on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop” today (see video) to talk about a new investment fund his eponymous company William Macklowe Company has created with Grove International Partners. The fund, Macklowe said, is a vehicle with the capacity to raise up to $1.5 billion in acquisition capital.

While “there’s a limited supply in the acquisition pipeline,” Macklowe said, his firm is on the lookout for commercial and residential properties exclusively in Manhattan. The company is biding its time, he said, waiting to see how the market settles.

The developer closed on his first building in January since the launch of his firm in 2010. Macklowe, who initiated the much talked-about split from his father and is attempting to start fresh, acquired 636 Sixth Avenue for $45.2 million in a joint venture with ING Clarion Partners. The building, which has 60 percent vacancy in January, is now 100 percent occupied, Macklowe said, after Second Market, the alternative stock exchange, signed on as a tenant. [Bloomberg T.V.]